MSI P7N Diamond vs. MSI P7N SLI Platinum
Performance tests
It turned out that while determining the starting FSB speed, the boards set it at a high enough precision.
In our test setup, we used the following hardware:
Apart from the motherboards in question, we used MSI X48 Platinum (Intel X48) in our tests.
Now on to the gaming benchmarks.
Tests of application software.
Video encoding (DivX, Xvid) was measured in seconds, i.e. the less the better.
Data compression (WinRAR) was measured in MB/sec, i.e. the more, the better.
Final Words
In general, both the boards left a rather favorable impression. In particular, P7N Diamond fully reveals the capabilities of the NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI chipset, which allows the user to not only enable the Triple-SLI, but also install a fourth video card! There were no issues about the other expansion options: support for eight SerialATA II links, two (!) ParallelATA links, support for USB and Firewire, as well as two Gigabit LAN controllers - all these make it possible to assemble a really powerful computer. Of separate mention, is the full-fledged sound card based on the Creative X-Fi chip, which makes this board much more attractive. The package bundle is also on par.
The package bundle of MSI P7N Platinum is scarcer, and it offers no separate sound card. Nevertheless, it costs $160 (!) cheaper and we highly appraise this product. At the same time, engineers at MSI installed an additional nForce 200 bridge, which resulted in the increase in the PCI Express lanes number, as well as support for PCI Express v2.0. In the end, the user gets three PCI Express X16 slots!
As compared to the Diamond model, the Platinum board offers merely one Gigabit LAN controller, six SATAII links and merely eight USB2.0 ports. However, this board is cheaper and falls within the lower-end class in which its attraction is rather high.
As regards the pros and cons, they are only about the overclocking tools. In particular, the maximum stable FSB speed in the Diamond model equals 400 MHz. That is almost nothing because in a few weeks to come new Intel processors offering support for the 1600 MHz (QPB) bus are to be released. And the Platinum board is unable to operate at even this frequency. Moreover, it does not allow overclocking 1333 MHz bus CPUs! In the end, our verdict would be like this: until the programmers at MSI have improved the overclocking tools, we don't recommend the above motherboards to overclockers and PC enthusiasts.
MSI P7N Diamond vs. MSI P7N SLI Platinum
Conclusion
Pros:
- high stability and good performance level;
- four PCI Express x16 slots (2?16 v2.0 + 1x16 + 1x8);
- support for SerialATA II/RAID (eight links; nForce 570i SLI + JMB363);
- support for 2 P-ATA links (nForce 570i SLI + JMB363);
- two Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers;
- support for USB2.0 (10 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
- wide selection of MSI's proprietary technologies (Dual CoreCenter, CMOS profiles, LiveUpdate, D.O.T., etc.);
- passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- rich package bundle (including the sound card X-Fi).
Cons:
- flaws in the BIOS;
- flaws in the software.
The board's specific features:
- poor results of overclocking (FSB = 400 MHz);
- "Power", "Reset", "Clear CMOS" buttons;
- digital power converter.
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Pros:
- high stability and good performance level;
- three PCI Express x16 slots (1?16 v2.0 + 2x8);
- support for SerialATA II/RAID ( 6 links; nForce 430i + JMB363);
- support for 2 P-ATA links (nForce 430i + JMB363);
- support for USB2.0 (8 ports) and IEEE-1394 (Firewire; 2 ports);
- integrated 8-channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller;
- passive system for cooling the chipset and the power supply module;
- good package bundle;
- wide selection of MSI's proprietary technologies (Dual CoreCenter, CMOS profiles, LiveUpdate, D.O.T., etc.).
Cons: The board's specific features:
- there are overclocking tools, but starting with BIOS version 1.0 they don't work;
- "Clear CMOS" button;
- additional nForce200 bridge to support PCI-E v2.0.
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